Martha Allitt

Welcome to the Psychedelic Conversations Podcast!

Episode 6:

In this episode,
We start by discussing her life story growing up in England feeling a sense of small-town syndrome, experiencing her first psychedelic at 17 years of age, discovering an inspiring Ted talk in 2016, and her fascination with yoga and it becoming apart of her journey into the psychedelic realm which ultimately lead her to do yoga training and to work for the psychedelic society.

We discuss the integration process, the mainstreaming of yoga and the misconception of it being an instant healing process, the glamorization of psychedelic drugs and meditation, what it takes to deal with depression the right way, how typically – in human nature – we expect instant gratification when trying to heal ourselves, and the importance of writing down your experience when taking psychedelics and sharing it with other people.

Later on we discuss harm-reduction, the understanding that psychedelics are not domesticated medicines and can be just as dangerous as they can be effective and wonderful, the important notion that we cannot control psychedelics but we can turn a negative experience into something positive, the subconscious mind being revealed when taking psychedelics, and the dangers of using psychedelics alone as a recreational drug and the adverse effects they may have.

I then ask Martha about the UK and where we are positioning ourselves in the renaissance. She explains that the UK is ready to decrease the harm of these drugs when used recreationally, but that we need to give it time. She clarifies that there is a lot of progress being made with harm-reduction at festivals and how important it is since a lot of people take drugs from unknown sources.

We go on to discuss the “Zendo Project” which is a program that has been created to provide safe spaces within festivals for people having difficult experiences related to drugs. I explain to Martha how since the “Zendo Project” has been created, a lot of the harm at festivals has been reduced.

Martha helps by listing some of the important steps to note for harm-reduction purposes starting with the importance of understanding different types of drug test kits, researching what you are taking on sites like “https://psychonautwiki.org/​”, owning a scale to know the exact amount you’re taking, meditating before going into a psychedelic trip, having a “trip sitter” – someone you trust that is willing to be there for you if needed, and most importantly, to do what you are comfortable with.

About Martha:
Martha works for the Psychedelic Society UK where she runs events on science, culture and policy within the context of psychedelics and other plant-based medicines. She also works for The Psychedelic Renaissance where she writes articles and various other pieces of content to engage the psychedelic community and beyond in the spectrum of issues and relevant news, both positive and negative.

She also aims to spread important harm-reduction information and is a proud volunteer for Psycare UK with a background in Neuroscience, Martha has an evidence and research-based focus and is passionate about disseminating information on the therapeutic purposes of plant-based medicines and other psychedelics to treat various medical conditions, in hope to move closer towards ending the war on drugs.

This drive has led her to volunteer for Patient-Led Engagement Access (PLEA). Outside of her psychedelic career, Martha is a trained yoga teacher, enjoys making art, writing songs and dancing to 80’s disco music.

Connect with Martha:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/martha.allitt/​
Linkedin: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/martha-all…